


Lost and Found

by captainflintsjacket



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: (also some puking), Drama!, F/M, Mystery!, suspense!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-10-09 05:22:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20511485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainflintsjacket/pseuds/captainflintsjacket
Summary: Based on a request: "Leonard x Reader. Like when they get to go on shore leave in Yorktown and the reader forgets her communicator in her room on the Enterprise. One night, Leonard tries to get in touch with her to meet up with Jim and gets super worried when she doesn't answer?"





	Lost and Found

You fell to your knees on the sidewalk outside of Starfleet, the warm concrete feeling foreign against your skin and lips as you kissed it. “Earth,” you cried. “Earth, sweet Earth!”

Bones snorted behind you, holding his hand out to haul you back to your feet. “Quit being so dramatic.”

“I’m only saying what you’re thinking,” you said, pulling Bones’ arm down until you could reach his lips with your own. “You sure you don’t wanna come out with me tonight?”

“Sugar, I’d rather spend another year in space than have to leave my room for the next three days.”

“All right, grandpa,” you chuckled.

It took you almost three hours to get ready. The feel of warm water sliding down your back and the sweet scent of citrus conditioner felt like a dream after your long run on the Enterprise. You relished it, taking your time to lotion up and comb your hair out before putting on your makeup. It had been so long since you’d done it that your eyeliner came out a little wavy, but you figured no one would notice in the dimly lit bar. When you were finally ready you snapped a picture of yourself to send to Bones and threw your phone on your bed to put on your shoes. With one last glance at your makeup, you were ready for a night of drinking and irresponsibility.

Bones, on the other hand, was neck deep in a bubble bath. Though he’d never admit it, being CMO had taken its toll on his body. Every joint hurt, a deep ache that had settled into his bones no matter how many hypos he gave himself or how many massages you gave him. Finally, he found some relief in the warm water and bath bath salts he’d mixed in. The smell of cobbler wafted through the bathroom from the candle you bought him at the last shore leave in Yorktown.

He grumbled when his phone went off, reaching lazily from the tub to reach for it. Your picture lit up his screen and, for a moment, he regretted not going out with you, but the warm waters called him home and he sunk deeper into them, holding out his phone to snap a picture of himself in the water. Bones set his phone back on the lid of the toilet and allowed his eyes to fall shut.

Normally, you weren’t a club person. It was all too noisy and crowded. After the quiet solitude of the Enterprise, broken only by the monotonous him of the oxygen pipes, the club was exactly where you wanted to be. You were already four shots deep grinding on your friends on the dance floor. You were all laughing. At what, none of you could say. Maybe it was the feeble pick-up lines guys were feeding you. Maybe it was the horrible classical music the club was playing. Maybe it was just because you were young and you were free again. You allowed yourself to enjoy it. Until a stranger puked on you anyway.

It started the worst chain reaction you’d seen in your years of science labs. One after the other people on the dance floor started retching. You grabbed your friends and ran (stumbled) as quick as you could outside. You were all still laughing as your heels hit the pavement, clack clack clack. You clung to each other in the cold, swaying. Clack clack clack. You didn’t know where you were going, but it didn’t matter as long as you with your friends. Clack clack clack. It certainly didn’t matter that there was a man following you from the bar, watching your bare legs as your heels hit the concrete clack clack clack.

Bones woke with a start, splashing water over the edge of the tub. It felt like ice on his skin now and he cursed quietly to himself as he hauled his pruney body up and out of the water. He wrapped himself in the fluffiest robe he owned - a soft pink number he’d stolen from you - and grabbed his phone to check the time.

“Shit,” he mumbled, realizing he was late to pick you up from the bar. He called you as he pulled on a pair of jeans and an old sweater you’d bought him a few Christmases ago. It was dark blue with a faded Georgia peach on it, “Georgia on my mind” emblazoned down the sleeves of the left arm. He dropped the phone as he pulled the sweater over his head and cursed under his breath again, scrambling to pick it up only to be greeted by your voicemail.

“I’m on my way, darlin. I’m sorry I…” Bones let his thought trail off, imagining you laughing and calling him grandpa again. He cleared his throat, “I’m on my way. Call ya when I’m out front.”

Bones tapped his thumbs against the steering wheel in time to the song on the radio. He hummed to himself while he waited for you to finally emerge, checking his phone periodically for any update. After 10 minutes he called you again. After 20 minutes he decided “to hell with it” and went inside, surprised to see the bar almost empty until he saw the bartenders scrubbing vomit off the dance floor. He cleared his throat softly and one of the bartenders looked up at him.

“Sorry to bother y’all, but I was wondering if you’d seen this girl.” Bones didn’t even have a chance to get his phone out before the bartender scoffed.

“Do you know how many girls I see a day, buddy? Unless she tips well or took her top off on the dance floor, I’m not gonna remember her.”

“Will you just look at the damn picture?” Bones’ voice was equal parts commanding and concerned, but it was impossible to tell which swayed the bartender more.

He sighed and threw his rag onto the floor, pulling the latex gloves off his hands with a pop and taking Bones’ phone. He studied the picture of you carefully, finding nothing to separate you from the other faces that melted together in his day. “I’m sorry, man, but I have no idea. My guess is she got trashed and left with someone.”

Bones muttered a thanks before walking out, careful to let the door slam loudly behind him. The rattle in the window panes mimicked the rattle in his jaw as he ground his teeth together in worry. With a sigh, he got back in his car, calling you four more times before throwing his phone at the passenger seat. The leather steering wheel cover creaked as Leonard tightened his hands around it, pulling in a deep breath before feeling around for his phone in the dark to call Jim.

It was a quick call and Leonard was soon on the road, cruising down the street to look for any sign of you while Jim checked your room to see if you’d gotten a cab home and forgotten to mention it. Leonard scanned the streets with the same pinpoint precision that led to his promotion as CMO. All the poise left him when he saw your jacket strewn across a bench, illuminated as if by a spotlight under the San Francisco street lamps.

Leonard pulled his car into park and let it idle in the middle of the road, not caring if anyone hit it or stole it. The only thing on his mind was your name. He remembered the first time you said it to him and how lovingly he’d said it back to you since then. Never lovingly enough.

The jacket was still smelled like you, so it couldn’t have been too long since you’d been here. Leonard buried his face in the coat, breathing in as much of the scent as he could. As if you were both just animals and he could track you by scent alone. Maybe he were. He’d loved you since the first time he smelled you, after all. Like fresh fruit and linen. It was just like those summer days when his ma hung the laundry out to dry in the sun. He’d run around the yard with his cousins and his friends. Would he ever get to run around with you again?

Leonard jumped ten feet in the air when his phone went off. He dropped it in the scramble to get it out of his pocket and swore to himself and to whatever gods were listening before picking it up and answering breathlessly, hoping beyond anything that your voice would greet him.

“She’s not here,” Jim said solemnly. “She left her phone on the bed.” There was silence on the other line, broken only by the rustling of clothes and a hard grunt as Leonard dropped onto the closest bench. Jim waited, biting his lip to preoccupy himself until he couldn’t take the silence anymore. “Do you want me to come help look for her?”

Leonard didn’t say anything, simply hung up the phone. He stared vacantly outward, not seeing the car or the road or the sidewalks before him - only your face, your body in the dress you wore out tonight. Wondering if that’s the picture the police would ask for when they found your body washed up in the bay.

_Get a hold of yourself. You’ve faced worse on the Enterprise and come back in one piece. She’s probably just with one of her friends._

Leonard looked down at the jacket in his hands, and prayed for the first time in a very long time. He walked back to his car and parked it at a restaurant nearby, figuring it would be easier to find some trace of where you went on foot. Jim called a few times, threatening to call the police if Leonard didn’t pick up. When he finally did it was to assure Jim that he had a handle on everything. Leonard wasn’t sure if he’d ever told a lie bigger than that.

Walking around looking for clues seemed like a good idea until Bones realized he didn’t know where he was going. His mind was lost in thoughts of you, remembering your first date, your first kiss, the way you snort softly when you laugh. Dread crept in his stomach with ever step Leonard took, writhing and twisting like a nest of snakes.

Leonard didn’t know how long or how far he’d walked until he passed the diner where he’d asked you on your first date. You laughed at him then, saying you thought you were already on a date. He fumbled out some kind of apology, wondering how you made his usually steady hands so shaky and knowing then and there you were the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. It was embarrassing how quickly and deeply he loved you, doodling your name with his on a spare notepad on his desk after only a few dates. Mrs.

“Leonard McCoy.” Bones whipped around as his thought came to life, though slurred and distant. “Leeeeeee you have to come in! You won’t guess who we ran into!”

Bones looked at you like he’d been lost in the desert and you were water, like a pious man at the foot of a god. Then he ran to you. You giggled as he lifted you off your feet, burying his face against your shoulder before setting you down and kissing you like it was his last breath.

You only managed a few seconds before you burst into giggles again, arms slung around Bones’ shoulders as you stared up at him. “I’m happy to see you too, pumpkin.” You brushed your nose against his.

“Why didn’t you take your phone,” Bones asked as all the adrenaline left his body. His voice quivered and tears burned at his eyes harsher than the wind that picked up.

“My phone?” You furrowed your brow, trying to get your thoughts in some semblance of an order but the alcohol stopped you. “I’m sorry, babydoll. I thought I had it. Must’ve been too excited to go out. Did you call me?”

“At least ten times,” Bones snapped back. He pinched his eyes shut, knowing it would do no good to get mad at you while you were drunk. “I was supposed to pick you up at the bar.”

“Shit. Shit. I forgot. I’m sorry, peaches, I ran into an old friend and I totally forgot.” Bones couldn’t help the twinge of a smile at your ridiculous nicknames for him. “God, I’m useless when I’m drunk,” you laughed.

“Well, how ‘bout I take you home and sober you up with some movies and popcorn and then you can make it up to me?”

You giggled again, feeling like a schoolgirl hearing the word “penis” for the first time. Practically skipping to your friends’ table as Bones hovered in the doorway. You kissed each of them goodbye and grabbed your purse. “Thanks for returning this Phillip! We’ll have to catch up another time or Mr. Grumps over there might kill me.” You winked clumsily at Bones before stumbling up to him and throwing an arm around his waist. “Ready to go, Lenny Benny?”

Bones couldn’t stop the laugh that left him. Nothing put him at ease like having you back in his arms. Well, except maybe having you in his bed but that would come later.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr @trade-baby-blues


End file.
